NPA seizes nurse’s assets worth millions

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Published Feb 22, 2013

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Pretoria - The High Court in Pretoria has issued an order to seize assets worth millions of rands from a Swaziland nurse and her daughter accused of fraud, the NPA said on Friday.

“The forfeiture order follows a request for legal assistance from the Swaziland government to assist with the criminal investigation and seizure of the tainted assets,” the National Prosecutions Authority in Mpumalanga said in a statement.

The order comes after an investigation conducted by forensic firm KPMG on behalf of Swaziland's health and social welfare ministry into fraud, theft, and money laundering allegedly perpetrated by Charlotte Holiswa Mnwana and her daughter Mmabatho Success Mnwana against the Swaziland government.

The court ordered on Wednesday that a Northcliff townhouse worth R1.6 million, which Charlotte purchased in cash, and several bank accounts be forfeited and transferred to the Swaziland government.

Charlotte is registered as a nurse at the Board of Healthcare Funders of Southern Africa.

Charlotte allegedly submitted false medical claims to the Swaziland government in respect of its two medical referral schemes - the Government Employees Scheme and the Phalala Scheme.

“The Government Employees Scheme's primary objective is to enable Swazi government employees and their dependants to receive medical care in South Africa when such care is not available in Swaziland,” said the NPA.

The Phalala Scheme was meant to assist Swazi citizens who would otherwise not have access to specialist medical care to secure such care either within Swaziland or outside the country.

Between January 2008 and September 24, 2010, the Swaziland Treasury made cheque payments amounting to about 406 766 Swazi Emalangeni (R4 670 000) to Charlotte as a result of the false claims that she submitted for services allegedly rendered.

All the payments were paid into three ABSA bank accounts - one account belonged to Charlotte while the other two were in her daughters' name.

“The two transferred substantial amounts of money from the three accounts to twelve other ABSA bank investment accounts which were opened by them between July 2008 to February 2012.”

The two are also being investigated by the South African police for forgery, theft, and money laundering. - Sapa

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